It seems that the government SOP for disasters has recently become, ban all travel and close all roads. The only way out is to be funneled straight to the 'shelters.' This ensures that no one is bugging out to anywhere else.

Next they go house to house searching for anyone that's stayed behind and round up all the bug-ins by declaring a 'mandatory evacuation.'

So the big question is... how are we supposed to implement these plans we have when the first thing they do is clear the area? Government doesn't just disappear the second a disaster occurs. They still try to implement their plans, and their plans almost always run exactly counter to ours. They don't want preppers hanging out in abandoned wastelands. They want them in a camp somewhere where they can control them.

But all they have to do is toss around 'closed roads,' 'shelter orders,' 'mandatory evacuations,' and other gimmicky phrases and everyone just goes right along with it with no objections.

I have been in mandatory evacuation zones several times. They cut off electricity and water, they make sure everyone is aware they are in a mandatory evac zone and there will be NO rescues if things go south, and advise where the different types of shelters are. I have never had one try to guide me to a shelter much less force me. I have always, however, made sure I had some place to go if needed and the means to get there.

In the case of people with no personal transportation or personal operating funds, evacuations in cities might wholesale bus people to shelters but that is a whole lot more to do with they need someplace to go than it is a control issue.

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It seems that the government SOP for disasters has recently become, ban all travel and close all roads. The only way out is to be funneled straight to the 'shelters.' This ensures that no one is bugging out to anywhere else.

Next they go house to house searching for anyone that's stayed behind and round up all the bug-ins by declaring a 'mandatory evacuation.'

Any examples?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mels thinkingitover

I have been in mandatory evacuation zones several times. They cut off electricity and water, they make sure everyone is aware they are in a mandatory evac zone and there will be NO rescues if things go south, and advise where the different types of shelters are. I have never had one try to guide me to a shelter much less force me. I have always, however, made sure I had some place to go if needed and the means to get there.

That's pretty much what they do here, except that they don't turn off power and water. I suspect the only reason they call it a "mandatory evacuation" is as part of a checklist for declaring a state of emergency, thus getting Federal money.

I've stayed home during mandatory evacs and they leave me alone, when we've chosen to evac, there's never been a checkpoint or anything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mels thinkingitover

In the case of people with no personal transportation or personal operating funds, evacuations in cities might wholesale bus people to shelters but that is a whole lot more to do with they need someplace to go than it is a control issue.

That would make a lot of sense. In my county, they give a number to call if you need transport.

I went through one of these things once. The police drove down the street and yelled over the PA what our options were. Some police walked down some streets and knocked on doors, but they didn't on my street.

Nobody in the local PD had the time, manpower or inclination to break into homes and search every nook and cranny for the paranoid. If you didn't leave, you were on your own. In our case, we had no electricity for five days, but still had running water and gas, so we stayed. Even if we didn't, I had plenty stored but then again, that's why we do this nonsense.

In the end, nobody cared and no men in black came by to haul us off to a FEMA camp.

The thing is, in these natural disasters when they call for a mandatory evacuation, it is for the safety in many cases of the police, the fire department, the ambulances, etc..

There is a difference between some idiot who says "I ain't never left for no dang hurricane and I ain't gonna now" and then realizes that it is a level five and he is about to die and then calls 911 and wants someone to come save him - at the risk of their lives - versus the type of scenario that would be what we - or at least I - would be preparing for.

I will leave for a hurricane and if they provide busing options to those that don't have transportation to get out safely, then that is wonderful. I am not going to feel sorry for the idiot that refuses to leave. It's like Ron White says, "It's not THAT the wind is blowing, it is WHAT the wind is blowing"...

On the other hand, if there was some major meltdown or SHTF situation where you would actually expect to use your preps and protect yourself, that is an entirely different situation and I don't feel that there are enough LEO to come door to door and make you go.

Their hands would be full of the people who didn't prepare and were beating a path and knocking people out of the way to get the best seats on said bus to wherever "they" wanted to take them - FEMA camp, Super Dome, Astro Dome, etc..

The funny thing about mandatory evacuations is they aren't mandatory. They can't drag you out of your house kicking and screaming. Look at Harry Truman up on Mt St Helens. By god his wife was buried on that mountain and that's where he was going to be buried too! The only thing the authorities can do is close down roads and prevent people from going back in after they have evacuated. I've never heard of an instance where someone who refused to evacuate was taken by force. As for the shelters, if you have someplace else to go (relatives, friends etc) they let you go there. I've seen several wildfires where 500 people evacuated and the Red Cross shelter had 25 folks.

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Deciding when you can go back is my problem, I know when its time to go. Its not letting me back to protect whats left that, or minimizing the damage. When its flood especially, you can save things the first day but not after that.